Table-elevating mechanism.



E. CHESHIRE. TABLE ELEVATING MEc'HANlsM. "APPLICATION FiILED SEPT.8.'19l3 RENEWED MAY 29,1915. l 9145 949%, A Patented July 6, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEETJ. v

l j. d@ @wwwwummx A E. CHESHIRE.

TABLE ELEVATING MECHANSNI.

APPucATloN FILED sEPT.1B. 1913. RENEwED MAY 29.1915..

hmA, Patented July 6, 1915.

2 SHEETS--SHEET 2.

1 .145 ALM.

materiai upon the table;

UNL-UFE@ @Yrklthhl FTJWF EDWARD CHESHIRE, 4OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.ASSIGNOR '10 MILLER SAW TRIMMER CGMPANY OF MICHIGAN, OF PTTSBURGH,PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORA- TION OF MICHIGAN.

TABLEeELEVATING MLECH'ANISM.

Patented July 6, 11915.

Application filed September 18, 1913, Serial No. 790,524. Renewed May29, 1915. Serial No. 31,313.

To all 'zr/1.0m t may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD Clinsrrmn, a citizen of the United States,residing at Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State ofPennsylvania, have invented ne'w and useful Improvements inTable-Elevating lieehanism, of which the following is a full, clear,concise, and eXact description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawing, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to table elevating mechanisms foruse in connection-with machinery foi-'handling' sheets of paper, cardboard blanks, andlike articles.

The principal object of my invention is the provision of table elevatingmechanism which will be simple in construction and which will performits functions in an efficient and satisfactory manner. It is afurtheriobject of my inventonto provide the table elevating mechanismwith a simple and convenient adjustable device by means of which theraising force applied to the table may be readily adjusted to accordwit?! the size and nature of the And it is a still further object of myinvention to provide an adjustable device of the above character of sucha nature that the upward pressure imparted to the table will besubstantially uniform regardless of the size or nature of the paperbeing used.

A mechanismembodying my invention is described, by way of example, inthe following specification and shown in the accompanying drawings. Thismechanism is described andshown as employed in connection with a paperfeeding and handling machine of the kind disclosed in my cof pendingapplication, Serial No. 790,525, filed Sep. 18, 1913, but it may beemployed in other connections. l wish it understood, moreover, that theinvention may be embodied in other forms than that which is described,and that changes may be made in the constructional features of theembodiment which isidescribed, without exceeding the scope of theinvention, as defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a rear elen vation of the mechanism; Fig. 2is a vertical section, on a somewhat larger scale, throughthe mechanism,the section being taken as on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1, looking in thedirection of the arrows; Fig. 3 is a detail section, on an enlargedscale, taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. looking in 'the direction of thearrows; Fig. 4 is a detail section, on an enlarged scale, taken on theline 1 4 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows; and Fig. 5is a schematic view illustrati-ng the manner of determining the relativeVsizes and positions of the parts.

As has been said, the embodiment of my invention shown in the drawingsis applied to a paper feeding and handling device of the kind describedin my co-pending application, above referred to. Such a device includesa feed box 10 having side fianges by means of which itV is adapted to besecured to the fame 11 of a platen press.

Extending downward` from the feed box 10 is a hollow guide `12 in whichis slidably mounted a vertical pillar` 13 extending downwardly from afloating stock table 14.. The paper which is to be fed to the press isplaced on the stock table 14 and is normally pressed upward against aplurality of pneumatic feet 15 which are secured. to a separator bar16.' The separator bar 16 is carried by a feeder frame 17 which ismounted on the feed boi'. 1.0. The pneu* matic feet 15 form stops forlimiting the upward movement of the pile of stock carried 'by the table14 and are intermittently lifted to carry the top sheet of the pile intoposition to be removed by a feeding device (not shown). The table 14 isclamped against upward movement during such lifting of the pneumaticfeet 15, by mechanism which will be hereinafter described.

A guide 18 is secured to the feed box 10 and is formed with a guide slot19 in which is slidably mounted a block 20 carrying at its outer end afulcrum pin 21 (Figs. 1 and 1). The block 2.0 is hitched, by means of arod 22 to a pivoted lever- 23; so that, by shifting the lever 23 in onedirection or the other, the block 20 may be moved in a correspondingdirection in the slot 19 of the guide 18| The fuicrum pin 21 enters aslot 24' in a lifting lever 25 which is connected, by means of a. pin26, to a pivoted link 2'? extending down Wardly from the floating stocktable 1li. Connected to the lifting lever 25 by a pin 28, between thepin 26 and the end of the alot 2e, ie a shank 29, the lower face et n,on insonne which is engaged, and pressed upward, by a compression spring80. lt will be seen that the spring 80, acting through the shank 29,lever 25 and link 27 will tend to force the table let upward, and topress the upper face of the pile of paper against the pneumatic feet 15.llt will also be seen that by shifting the block to the right or to theleft in the slot 19, the edect of the lo 'spring 30 to raise the table14. will be correspondingly increased or lessened. lflithout means forpreventing such movement being provided, the lever might move endwisewith respect to the pivot 21. A spacing link 315 31 is, therefore,connected between the pin 2G and a pin carried by a lug 32 secured tothe guide 1S, and serves to define the relative positions of the partsdescribed abovoe. By reason of the provision of this spacing 2o link,the block 20 and fulcrum 21 will be caused to slide slightly in theslots 19 and 24, during the upward movement of the table, but thissliding movement is so small as to have no appreciable edect on theopersa ation of the device. y

rl`he spring is only allowed to exert its pressure upon the table leiatcertain intervals, the table being normally locked against movement by aclamping device now so to be described. The clamping device consists ofa clutch 34 which operates upon the lower end of the pillar 13. Theclutch 34C consists of a block 35 s lidably mounted in a hollow boss,situated at the lower end of the guide 12, and having a slot 36 thereinthrough which the pillar 13 passes. A coiled spring 37 abuts against theend of the block 35 and normally forces the end surface'ofA the slot 8Ginto engagement with e@ the pillar .13 whereby the stem is held againstmovement. The clutch is intermittently released by means of a camprojection 38 which is secured to the driving shaft 39 of the press. Thecam projection 3S, at each revolution of the shaft 39, engages a roller410 carried by the block 35 and thus forces the block inward against theaction of the spring 37, whereby the pillar 13 is released and thefloating stock table 111- al- 5553 lower to be moved upward by theaction of the spring 30.

As has been stated above', the upward movement of the floating stocktable 14 is limited by the pneumatic feet 15 carried by the separatorbar 16, against which feet the upper face of the pile of paper presses.rThe pneumatic feet 15 are held stationary during the time that theclutch 34E is released; but they are subsequently raised to lift the @l5.top sheet of the pile into position for feeding. After a sheet has beenthus lifted and the separator bar 16 and pneumatic feet 15 have againreturned to their lower position, the pile will not, of course, press sofirmly against the pneumatic feet as before. Just at this time the camprojection 38 forces the block 35 inward and releases the pillar 13,whereupon the table is raised by an amount substantially equal to thethickness of the sheetremoved. The table is thus raised to 'I0 theextent of the thickness of one sheet at each revolution of the maindriving shaft 39.

1n order that the floating stoclr table 11 may be moved downward toreceive a new pile of stock and in order to enable the op 75 erator toAadjust the height of the floating table manually when desired, a clutchactuating hand lever el is pivoted to the casing of the clutch 3l insuch position as to' engage, by means of its bent over. end 42 (Fig. 8G3), a shoulder 48 formed upon the clutch block By moving the clutchactuating lever 41 to the left, its end /12 is forced against theshoulder 13 and the clutch block 35 is thereby forced inward against theac- 85 tion of the spring 37, the pillar 13 being thus released. Whenthepilla-r 13 has been released the floating stock table may be manuallypressed down against the action of the spring 30 to any extent desired.9@

ln order that the floatingstock table 14C may be locked in its lowermostposition, if desired., during the operation of the press, the outer endof the hand lever 11 is pro vided with a hook /11 which may be made 95to enga-ge over the end of the level 25, whereby the floating table i'ssecurely retained in the lowermost position.

The floating table 14: is formedwith trans verse slots through whichproject vertical 10o side guides 15 between which the pile oi stock isplaced upon the floating table, the front of the pile resting againstend stops 46 which are provided at the frontn of the feed box 10. 'Theside stops -15 are laterally 105 adjustable for different widths ofpaper, and different positions of the paper onthe stock table, and aresimilar to one another, so that a description of one of them will`sullice. Each of the stops is slidably mounted 110 upon a transverseguide bar 4-7 carried by the feed bor` 1() beneath the floating stocktable, and is provided with a screw hole into which is threaded the endof a rod 18 which extends to the rear of the feed boX. rlhe 115 end ofthe rod L18 is arranged to bear against` the guide bar el? and thus lockthe side stop 45 against movement. However, when it is desired to adjustthe stop, this may be done by turning the rod 48 so as to release its120 end from engagement with the guide 47, when the stop may be manuallymoved to the right or left by means of the rod 18. An adjustable endstop 50 is provided onthe stock table 14 for engaging the rear faceA 125of the pile of stock.

Reference has been made above to the fact that the pivotufulcruln 2l.iS. Shiftable in the slots 19 and 24; of the guide 18 and raising lever25, respectively, in order to enable the le@ ineens/i pressure exertedby the spring 30 upon the table 14 to be varied, this being for thepurpose of adapting the pressure applied to the table to the weight, perunit of thickness of the pile, of paper upon the table. 1t will beunderstood that "ariations of the weight of the paper, due to variationsof 'the thickness of the pile, are automatically compensated for by thevariations of the compression of the spring due to the greater or lesslowering of the table necessary to enable a thick pile or a thin pile,respectively, to be placed thereupon beneath the pneumatic feet 15. Thearea of the paper, and what may be termed the specific weight of thepaper, may,' however, vary within wide limits, and this variation iscompensated for by shifting the fulcrum 21, as described above.

In practice, a pile ofpaper is placedupon the table 14, the clutch 34:having been previously released to allow the table to be depressed. Thehandle 23 is then moved to shift the block 20, and consequently theful-l crum 21, in one direction or 'the other, until the spring iscausing a certain predetermined 'upward pressure, As the paper isremoved from the pile sheet by sheet, and the table 14 is raised step bystep, the spring 30 will gradually expand, thereby exerting a graduallydiminishing pressure upon the table. This diminution of the pressureapplied to the spring 30 will be proportional to the reduction of weightof the paper on the table so that, when the paper is all removed, thetable itself will engage against the pneumatic feet with the samepressure as the pile did when first placed upon the table. Thiscondition would be present as a matter of course were it not for theweight v of the stock table and associated parts, and

the constant upward pressure which it isdesired that the stock exertupon the pneumatic feet. In order that the condition may be present inpractice, therefore, it is necessary to compensate for the constantweight of the table and associated parts, and for paper, and that suchleverage. is for the heaviest paper. Considering now the position of thefulcrum 21 shown in full lines in Fig. 5 (in which `the leverage is itwill be seen that in order to give the required constant upward pressureof 9 lbs.

to the stock table, there must be such an initial compression of thespring 30 as will give a pressure of (33 lbs. at the pin 28. lf the slot19 lay in .a line with the slot "24, the shifting of the fulci'um 21would work no change in the initial compression of the spring; so that,with the fulcrum '21 shifted to the opposite end of the slot 19, therewould still-be an upward pressure of 63 lbs. at the pin 2S. rilheleverage having been changed to lli, there would be an upward pressureof 21 lbs. at the stock table, instead of the 9 lbs. which was desired.To avoid this, and maintain the upward pressureof the stock tableconstant at all times the slot 19 is inclined in such a manner as tomaintain the initial compression of the spring in proper proportionaterelation with the leverage at all positions of the fulcrum 21. of Fig.which, shows, in full lines, the p0- sitioii of the parts for thelightest paper, and, in dotted lines, the position of the parts for theheaviest paper. It will be noted that the initial compression of thespring is much greater in the full line position than it is in thedotted position.

By. the above described mechanism, the pile of stock is raised steadilyand uniformly until the last sheet has been removed and the table itselfengages against the pneumatic feet 15:, and the pressure against thefeet 15 remains constant during suchv raising. The mechanism is of asimple nature, is easy to manipulate, and is'not liable to get out oforder. Stock be placed on the table or removed, and the adjustments madefor different sizes and natures of stock, with great ease and speed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A table elevating device comprising a i'ioating table for receivinga-rticles piled one on the other and from which such articles areadapted to be removed in successive quantities, means for exerting anupward pressure on said table tomaintain the top of the pile at arequired level, said pressure exerting means being arranged to decreasein effect as the weight of the pile diminishes owing to the removal ofthe articles, and

meansfor adjusting said pressureexerting means in accordance with theinitial weight of said pile of, articles, said last-named. means beingself-adjusting to compensate for the constant weight of the table.

2. In a table elevating device the combination with a `movable table forreceiving articles piled one on the other and` from` which such articlesare adapted to be removed in successive quantities, of a levercooperatively related with said table and adapted for raising thelatter, a spring for actuating said, lever, said spring being ar- Thiswill be clear from an., inspection ranged so as to exercise an extrapresenre to compensate for the Weight of the table itself, a settablelfulcrnin lor said lever whereby the effective operating`- lengtV ol"said lever may be varied in accordance Avvitli the weight of theparticular articles carried by the table, and Ineens whereby the eXtrapressure exercised by eaid spring Ylor coinpensating for the Weight ofthe table may be adjusted in proportion to the olif-dige or leverageseffected by the'setting of said lulcrurn. A

3. ln a table elevating device, the conibination with a movable table,ol a springactnated slotted lever adapted for eleveiting said table, aslotted Lguide, the slot in said guide being inclined with respect tothe slot in said lever, and a itulcrmn for seid lever, said itulcrunbeing shiftably mount ed in said slotted guide and slotted lever, forthe purposes set forth. i

4. ln a table elevating),` device, -the come bination vvith a movabletable, oit a springactnated lever cooperatively related to the table andadapted for raising the latter, and a settable fulcrnni for Said lever,whereby the effective operating length of Sai-d lever may be varied atwill.

5. ln a table elevating device, the combination with a verticallymovable tablecla swing-actuated pivoted lever coperatively relatedtothertable and adapted yto raise the latter, anda inembcr having a slottherein for adjilstably receiving the pivot o't Said lever, whereby theeffective operating length ot said lever may be varied at will, saidslot beinginclined so as to coinpensate `for the constant Weight of saidtable.

6. ln a table elevating' device, the conibination with a movable table,of springactnated lever cooperatively related 'to the table and adaptedfor raising the latter, a

settable nlcrnni for said lever, whereby the etl'ective operating`length o1 said lever may be varied at `will, means for checking theelevation of the table, and periodically act ing` means for releasing'the table to permit the springectnated lever to elevate said table.

7. ln a table elevating device, 'he conibinatio11`with a movable table,of a springactuated slotted lever adapted for elevating' said table, aSlotted guide, a fnlcrnin for Said lever which is shiiitable in Saidslotted guide and slotted lever, and a hand-opi erated device adaptedfor shifting the lever fnlcrum to ditlerent positions in the slottedguide, ivhereby the eilective leverage coloperrting,A with the table mayvaried at vvillv i i 8. ln a table elevating device, the con hination'with a movable table, of a lever operatively connected thereto, fnlcrumfor said lever, spring` ,means coperating with the lever between itsulcrurn and point of application to the table adapted for eli rnectingjthe movement ci the table, end means Yfor shitting said iiulcrnm,thereby y the eli'ective length of the lever, with which the springmeans cooperates.

ln a table elevating device, Lthe coinbination With a movable table, ofa spring actuated lever operatively connected thereto, a shittablefulcrnnrfor said lever, and a spacing' link extending along" side of thelever aforesaid which pivcted and is talso operatively connected to thetable.

l0. lira table elevating device, the coinbination vvith a movable table,oft a springactnated lever, a link pivoted to the lever and to thetable, a shiitta lul ruin lfor Said lever, and a spacing; lr extendingalongside or' the lever aforesaid which is pivoted and is also pivotedto the link autore- ,said where the springactnated lever ie pivotedthereto.

ll. ln e table elevating?" device, conibinaticn with e movable table, ofa epri' actuated lever ccperatively ccnnectedv thereto, a settabletnlcrnni eaid leicr,

` whereby the action oi the lever on the table may be regulated, areleasable clamp :tor locking' the table, automatically acting means forperiodically releasing," said clamp, and hand-operated means forreleasing the clamp at will.

lf2. ln table elevating device., the combination with a movable tableadapted te hold articles piled one on another and from which sucharticles are adapted to be re* moved in Successive quantities, of alever for elevating said table to keep top 'thereof at a required leveles successive articles are removed, Said lever havingl adjustableinici-um, n cans 'for actuating; Said lever, and

means 'for readily deterni'inii'ig the proper position ol? said ulcrnmin accordance with the initial 'weight of said pile oiarticles.

ln witness 'whereofl l have herennto subscribed nrv naine in thepresence of tvvo vvitnessce.

